Science

Dieters who go vegetarian not only lose weight more effectively than those on conventional low-calorie diets but also improve their metabolism by reducing muscle fat, a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition has found. Losing muscle fat improves glucose and lipid metabolism so this finding is particularly important for…

A few days ago we covered a group of scientists who found a way to turn CO2 into ethanol. The idea of an elegant solution for carbon emissions sparked a huge amount of enthusiasm—it’s already become Popular Mechanics’ most popular story of 2016, in fact. So we sat down with Adam Rondinone, one of the scientists behind…

We’re living in a time of records. More renewable energy came on stream in 2015than ever—147 gigawatts, equal to Africa’s entire generating capacity—and investment in the sector broke records worldwide. Costs for producing solar and wind power have hit record lows. Portugal obtained all its electricity from renewable sources for four straight days in May—the longest achieved by any country—and Germany was able…

Consumers know some of the benefits blueberries provide, but they’re less aware of the advantages of reverting aging, improving vision and memory, a new University of Florida study shows. Shuyang Qu, a doctoral student in agricultural education and communication at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, led the study. Joining Qu…

The well-known hormone melatonin is not just promoting sleep in humans and animals but is also involved in stress tolerance in plants. And Crop Physiologists from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the University of Copenhagen has now documented the roles of melatonin in drought priming and stress memory in barley, together with…

A small island south of South Korea is working for the title of world’s first carbon-free island. And it’s pretty close to accomplishing just that. Wind turbines on Gapado Island. Photo credit: Channel NewsAsia Gapado Island, home to 177 people, relies mainly on solar and wind power for electricity. Two wind power generators have been installed on the island, which produce…